That’s My Jam: Faye Wong – Eyes On Me

On the Lunar Base, the player finds out that after defeating Edea, her sorceress powers (which were given to her under final boss Ultimecia’s possession of her) were passed to Rinoa. Under Ultimecia’s control, she uses Rinoa to unlock the tomb of another sorceress, Adel.

Due to Seifer (obeying Ultimecia willingly) triggering an effect called the Lunar Cry, countless enemies including Adel, travel from the Moon to Earth. Once this occurs, Ultimecia releases her control over Rinoa, leaving her to die in the middle of space. Squall, forgoes the escape pod from the Lunar Base to go save Rinoa.

He eventually finds her floating in space, quickly losing oxygen. He gets a hold of her and is able to provide her oxygen from his suit. Now both Squall and Rinoa are aimlessly floating in space, then in a serendipitous event, they come across the Ragnarok flowing around as well. They make their way into the ship, and use the autopilot to get back to Earth.

Instrumental versions of the song played before this scene, but this scene in Final Fantasy VIII was the first time the player heard the song in its original form. It’s an overtly sappy, heavy-handed, love ballad. But for FF8, for Squall and Rinoa, it’s perfect. Despite moments of Engrish, Faye Wong does a fantastic job singing in English. Coupling this song with Squall and Rinoa embraceing their love for one another, it’s easily one of the best moments in the game.

This is my favorite Final Fantasy game. Spanning four disks for the original Playstation, and it had me hooked all the way through. Memorable characters such as Zell and Laguna, and a bombastic story only fit for Final Fantasy. Even Triple Triad was a great distraction between plot points. The junction system is divisive, I understand. But, I embraced it and found it to be engaging and well-worth investing time into it.

I also realize that for a huge majority of the game, Squall is laconic and depressed about himself and the world. But, when he opens himself up to Rinoa on the Ragnarok, that all changed. Others may have been relieved that it took him this long to get out of the funk, I was happy that he got out, period. Sometimes it takes something drastic as the person you love drifting in the void of space nearing their death.

When Rinoa sits in Squall’s lap, as they head back to Earth, knowing that she has been labeled a sorceress, they both realize they have to face judgement. But for those few moments on the ship, just the two of them together, everything else doesn’t matter. Without Faye Wong’s Eyes On Me, that scene wouldn’t have been as poignant.